


Of Small encounters

by LadyHorizon94



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Keith-Centric, Langst, M/M, OC, One-Shot, Post-Season 2, Shaladin - Freeform, Shiro/Lance - Freeform, Spoilers, giftfic, shance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 04:30:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHorizon94/pseuds/LadyHorizon94
Summary: Alright. Now Keith was definitely confused. He had never met this man before. Was this some kind of condolence?!The boy felt his blood boil like a burning sun. Why did some people talked about Shiro like he had been dead?! ”He's not death.” Keith hissed coldly looking the garla straight in his eyes. ”We'll find him. Now, I need to get back to the others...” He walked quickly past this man controlling himself only barely, not running inside. (Leaders never ran.)Post season-2, spoilers





	Of Small encounters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [autumnlibrarian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnlibrarian/gifts).



> This was my gift fic for Autumnlibrarian when she wasn't feeling so well and she asked me to post it here :) This is about Keith and Iston, who is autumnlibrarians and Groovygambler's OC. He is lovely, please, check him out here : https://autumnlibrarian.tumblr.com/search/Iston
> 
> Alright, this also contains shance. If you are uncomfortable with that, please do not read this fic. It's not the focus and there's not much of it but still... *shrugs* And this fic is post season 2 so spoilers

The eternal blackness of space was always overwhelming and humbling experience. Partly since distances grew depressingly long. Nothing seemed to move, or change. Space just... was. On earth, Keith had never realized that space was indeed _infinitive_ and endless not knowing boundaries or limits. The feeling had been a bit easier to handle when there had been Zarkon to fight against, planets to save. The male could easily target his focus on the garla, who snatched planets, abused them, devoured them inside out and left to rot.

 

Everything had been so much simpler when _Shiro_ had been there. He was a definition of a perfect leader. He had been the only one the black haired boy could put his trust on. Shiro had been... _family._

 

And now he had left Keith too. The male sat outside of the Blade of Marmora's secret hideout leaning against his lion staring in front of him without seeing anything.

 

Allura was inside with the others talking with others what to do next. Keith should have been there. Shiro had chosen him. He had chosen him to be the leader -

 

As if Keith could ever replace the unreplaceable. But _he had to._ Besides, this was only temporary. Shiro was alive **(he had to be,)** they only needed to find him. Keith didn't care if the space was an enormous beast swallowing everything whole, never letting go of its' victims.

 

The boy wasn't cut out for this, he couldn't do this. Shiro was so _unfair -_

 

Something got stuck in Keith's throat. Heavy lump which the boy tried to swallow angrily. Who cared if this was unfair? Hadn't his whole life been that way? Lance had been envious of him, claiming how everyone thought the dark haired boy was the one everyone praised. Keith had wanted to shake him, try to make him understand -

 

Keith had been best at the Garrison because he had had to be. He had to be best to find Shiro, the man who had been practically a brother to him. The young male had to be the best because otherwise the world would stomp on him and leave him.

 

And when he had found Shiro again, he had fucking disappeared.

 

It wasn't _fair._ He couldn’t do this. The one time the boy had been inside the black lion had been... overwhelming. The absolute authority and power had flown to Keith addictive and stunning. He had wanted _MORE_ of it....

 

After the experience, it was no wonder Zarkon had been blinded by it. Or maybe it affected only the garla?

 

His stomach turned and he cringed at the thought. Not as badly as before but the thought, the doubt was still there...

 

_Could I become one of them? Could I end up like Zarkon?_

How could he lead when he was consumed by the self doubt himself? He couldn't do that. He couldn't be there for Pidge when her missing brother conquered her mind. He couldn't be there for Hunk and reassure that everything was going to be fine on missions (It was not fine. Not until they found Shiro.)

 

And Lance...

 

Oh god _Lance._ He couldn't be there for Lance, who had _loved_ Shiro. He had never said anything, but it had been so painfully obvious for Keith, with all those jealous glares and the way he hung to Shiro's every word.

 

Now Lance was... feverish. He put everything he had – and more – to find their leader. Coran found him once, screaming for the Blue lion angry tears rolling down his red cheeks. Turned out he had tried to sneak out on his own to find the black paladin. Blue had been sensible enough not to let him in, thank god for that.

 

Keith had been _pissed._ They already had one lost paladin, it was bad enough that they couldn't form Voltron, and they didn't have time to deal with another missing comrade.

 

The fight had been ugly. Keith had been tired and uncertain. He had been shaken by how... _UnLance_ Lance had been. The black haired boy had yelled at him. Then there had been fists and hard floors and tears.

 

Keith had ended up with a black eye and Lance as an exhausting sobbing mess on the floor.

 

Who knew Lance could be so fragile? It was painfully obvious while Hunk told him about his friend with hushed tone. His big, warm, loud and goofy family which was still so beautifully intact with abuelitas and cousins and parents.

 

People like Lance had not gotten used to losing. People like Keith and Pidge were painfully familiar with the hollow empty cavern that lost people carved in the heart with their absence.

 

Something moved. In a flash Keith was on his feet, sword on his hand. Red's eyes gleamed yellow as a reaction to his alerted state. A galra in about five steps away raised his hands unthreatening manner. He was taller than Keith, yellow eyes reflecting calmness. Ah, he was part of the Blade of Marmora. Still, Keith was a bit embarrassed to let the other sneak so close.

 

Without saying anything he put the sword down inspecting carefully the other male's features. He had purple skin with darker stripes decorating his shoulders and arms. Dark hair looked untamed and among them, dark ears peaked up. A tail had black tussle on the tip of it. It was strange... he should have had more fur.

 

To his irritation Keith also noted how much taller the other one was. Not that he had anything against taller people but right now, at this moment it made him feel more vulnerable. ”Did Allura send you?” He asked congratulating himself inside his head for the steady voice he had. ”Tell her that - ”

 

”No one sent me,” The male's voice was low and pleasant. It was full of patience and calmness. ”I'm here to say that I am sorry.”

 

Alright. Now Keith was definitely confused. He had never met this man before. Was this some kind of _condolence?!_

 

The boy felt his blood boil like a burning sun. Why did some people talked about Shiro like he had been dead?! ”He's not death.” Keith hissed coldly looking the garla straight in his eyes. ”We'll find him. Now, I need to get back to the others...” He walked quickly past this man controlling himself only barely, not running inside. (Leaders never ran.)

 

”Wait!” The garla grabbed his wrist quickly making Keith twitch. The hand was pleasantly warm. Not many people touched the boy. Even Shiro had been cautious about casual gestures like patting him on the shoulder. Most times people touched him either patronizing, humiliating ways, like he could just break easily. The pity in their eyes when they heard Keith didn't have any parents was even _worse._ Others tried to dominate him with forceful movements or hurt him.

 

It was weird to be touched like this. With gentleness yet dignity. Firmly but equally. It was... pleasant. Something about it calmed fire in his blood.

 

”I didn't mean the black paladin – nothing of the sort,” the garla explained. ”All though I should have known you wouldn't recognize me. I was one of your opponents in that test to unleash your blade.”

 

Oh, _oh._ This was... awkward. Why would this man apologize? ”You have nothing to be sorry for.” Keith answered turning to look at the male. ”It was a test. I chose it.”

 

The man's ears twitched. He looked at Keith. Keith has gotten used to it. People – or aliens looked at him all the time, he was the red paladin. The defender of the universe -

 

Except... This man wasn’t looking at him like that. He wasn’t looking at the red paladin. He was looking at _Keith._ He was trying to peel all the layers people have glued on the boy one by one and it made something wake inside Keith.

 

”Still. I feel like I hit a notch too hard,” The tone was serious but a glimpse of humor passes by his eyes. The corner of Keith's mouth was twitching threatening to form a smile. (No, he couldn’t smile, not in here and now, there was nothing funny about the situation. Shiro was gone _what was he doing?)_

 

”More like too lightly,” Keith threw back. Only then he noticed that the garla is still holding him. The boy pulled his hand away like the stranger's touch was a curse (or blessing.)

 

”Anyway,” The male continued small smile on his face. ”It is nice to meet a fellow half-Garla. There are not too many of us.”

 

Keith freezes. Thousands of questions were rising and falling inside his head forming only crooked thoughts behind. _What? How?_

 

”You don't – You look like - ” Keith struggled and then stopped himself before he said something insensitive. He remembered how stressful it had been to bare Allura's doubt and Hunk's ridiculous questions. ”Sorry...” He mutters his cheeks burning.

 

”It's alright,” The male said, though Keith is not entirely convinced. The male kept his smile pleasant as always though. ”My name is Iston.”

 

_Iston..._ Huh. It was somehow weird and tupsy-turvy that he was here, chit-chatting with a stranger like it was nothing when everything was so broken. Some part of his brain was screaming at him for this. ”Keith.” He answered shortly.

”Keef...” Iston muttered not managing to say it quite correctly. The name sounds so foreign and unique with that heavy accent. ”Nice to meet you, Keef.”

It was the strangest things that could make a person happy and one of the most peculiar of them was finding someone similar in the middle of the infinitive sea of stars between the two black holes.

**Author's Note:**

> I really like Iston and there will be chance he will pop up in my fics if-autumn is okay with- in the future


End file.
